Days after the screening of Breanna's project, the mother said her co-workers mentioned seeing her son in the project and congratulated her on the spread of awareness about Down syndrome.

In October, the family participated in a Buddy Walk through an area Down syndrome association and raised more than $5,000 from their team alone.

Murray said no one in her family or her husband's has had Down syndrome, which made Brock's diagnosis an even bigger shock.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website reports that about one of every 691 babies born in the United States is diagnosed with Down syndrome each year.

"I remember feeling really depressed when the doctor first told me he had Down's," the mother said through teary eyes. "Alan was the one that stayed positive and became proactive about getting the right information we needed."

The mother said it wasn't until Brock's fifth day of life that the doctors told them their son had an extra copy of chromosome 21.

Murray smiled and waved at the West junior and her mother as they walked through their glass-paned, front screen door.

"He's just like everybody else," Murray said. "I think that's what everybody needs to know about people with Down syndrome: They're just like us."